Quiet Corner Film Festival returns to Killingly HS on Wednesday: Why you should go

The eighth Quiet Corner Film Festival returns to Killingly High School on Wednesday, May 29.

Doors will open for the red-carpet experience at 5:30 p.m., with short film screenings beginning at 6:15 p.m. People often wear a nice shirt and tie or a dress for the red carpet.

The films were made by Connecticut high school students. Schools whose entries were selected include Killingly, Grasso Tech, Daniel Hand, East Haven, Woodstock Academy, ACT Magnet School and Haddam-Killingworth.

Any Connecticut high school student is eligible to submit a short film of no more than eight minutes into the film festival. The film can be of any genre. The festival has rules regarding depictions of drugs and alcohol as well as the use of adults and or professionals/teachers to help with the productions.

Filmmakers will compete for prizes and scholarship money across eight different categories, including best acting, best cinematography and best editing.

Guests will be able to vote for their favorite film via the audience favorite category. Admission to the festival is free to the public and complimentary drinks and food will be available during intermission.

The festival features four judges who all work in the film industry. They will determine the winners of each film category except audience favorite.

How the Quiet Corner Film Festival started

Dan Durand, a video tech teacher and the tech ed department coordinator at Killingly High School, started the Quiet Corner Film Festival with the help of his former students. They began the festival to give students a place to showcase their work.

“We did it because we felt there was a need for it and there was a lack of opportunity for students who are interested in filmmaking/film production in this area to showcase their work,” Durand said. “So, we wanted to provide them a venue to do that and build a community.”

What the film festival participants have gone on to do

Many students whose films have been selected for the festival have gone on to film school or to study film in some respect at the next level, including one of this year's judges, Rodrigo Mariano.

Lionel Jeffries, a former student at Tolland High School and Quiet Corner Film Festival participant for several years, last year had a film selected for the Queens World Film Festival in New York City, where it won Best Experimental Film.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Quiet Corner Film Festival is May 29 at Killingly High School